The Tribune does not regret its error policy

James Janega

A shout-out to the Poynter Institute, who has done a nice piece surveying news industry best practices on handling errors. It's a good thing to remember (and not have to use!) on election day. And the Chicago Tribune gets prominent mention:

"The Chicago Tribune‘s accuracy policy is so thorough," writes Poynter's Andrew Beaujon, that "I could see [Poynter corrections maven Craig] Silverman keeping a copy in his vest pocket to rub during rough patches. In an email, Tribune standards editor Margaret Holt says, 'our commitment to accuracy transcends publishing platform. Practically speaking, we believe it is important to fix an error promptly, whether it’s in print or online.

"'The tricky part comes when we have something that is published first online and then, as the story develops, changes over a publishing cycle. We work through those with the counsel of the supervising editor and department editor.

"'In our guidelines, we say: If the error is straightforward, we want to fix it fast online. If we correct an error in a story published online, we need to double-check to determine if the print edition version also requires the same correction.

"'Our ethics policy works in tandem with the accuracy guidelines. We say in the ethics policy that those who turn to us must 'be confident that the news we deliver—as text or photo, audio or video—is accurate and free of the influence of special interests, whether public or private, commercial or political, our own or that of our friends.'

"'Further, we have a social media section in our Editorial Code of Principles. It notes: Integrity is a core value. Our ethical principles do not change, even as we work across multiple platforms and in differing media. Put another way, the standards that guide our behavior as journalists, including those listed elsewhere in the Tribune Code and in local guidelines, apply online as they do offline.'"